… Tammy C Hoffmann associate professor of clinical epidemiology1, Paul P Glasziou director
and professor of evidence based medicine1, Isabelle Boutron professor of epidemiology2, …

Background To comprehend the results of diagnostic accuracy studies, readers must understand
the design, conduct, analysis, and results of such studies. That goal can be achieved …

Incomplete reporting has been identified as a major source of avoidable waste in biomedical
research. Essential information is often not provided in study reports, impeding the …

The quality of reporting of studies of diagnostic accuracy is less than optimal. Complete and
accurate reporting is necessary to enable readers to assess the potential for bias in the …

Decision making in health care involves consideration of a complex set of diagnostic,
therapeutic and prognostic uncertainties. Medical therapies have side effects, surgical …

Background Viral epidemics or pandemics of acute respiratory infections (ARIs) pose a global
threat. Examples are influenza (H1N1) caused by the H1N1pdm09 virus in 2009, severe …

Background Acute otitis media (AOM) is one of the most common diseases in childhood for
which antibiotics are commonly prescribed; a systematic review reported a pooled …

Background Colorectal cancer is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality, especially in
the Western world. The human and financial costs have prompted considerable research to …

Background Sore throat is a very common reason for people to seek medical care. It is a
disease that remits spontaneously, that is,'cure'is not dependent on treatment. Nonetheless …

… “Six studies reported on maternal mortality and our meta-analysis showed a non-significant
reduction (three randomised trials, relative risk 0.79, 0.53 to 1.05, P = 0.12; three non-randomised …